Where I live in the Bay Area we plant trees and gardens, roses and vines, but it’s all in denial over the fact that our landscape is more desert than anything else – green in the spring and yellow brown the rest of the year. However, drive a few hours north, past the Golden Gate Bridge and the beautiful Marin Headlands, past the vineyards that used to be apple orchards (who earn forgiveness for destroying acres of fruit trees by turning brilliant fiery hues in the fall) and you’ll stumble upon western Sonoma County. Here you’ll see green that stays green, even into the summer, and little creeks and springs that dot the landscape that’s been left mostly wild. The picturesque old farmhouses and Victorians are gorgeous, but it’s the greenery that takes my breath away. Everywhere you look, the world is wet and alive.
Thanksgiving was not an event I was anticipating with any joy this year. My life has fallen apart and my family half-knows, half-doesn’t, so relatives spent the day avoiding my gaze or looking at me like I was that sick horse who was due to be shot, but no one could bring themselves to tell me. However, after dinner (served at 2 as was my grandmother’s family’s tradition) we always go on a long walk down a country lane. It’s the same walk we’ve taken for years, but it still always thrills me. Now that my kids are old enough to run ahead and tend to themselves, I get moments here and there to indulge my bliss: taking pictures. For those sweet, fleeting moments I am happier than I know how to express, my mind sparkling with color and line, composition and depth. In those moments, I don’t need a fancy camera (mine’s a point-and-shoot, no SLR, no fancy lenses – just me and a shutter) and I don’t need an audience…I reach that perfect state of being/not-being at one with the world around me.
I took over 300 photos yesterday, mostly of cousins and children who are growing too fast, so I try to catch little pieces to save and keep dear. However, I’d like to share a few I took of the wild – the wet, green world outside, a world of farms and streams and secret gates that I’ve always longed for. Perhaps one or two will inspire you, remind you of a place far away from door-buster sales and the voracious need to spend and acquire and own and consume. This is a place to just be, and in being, be simply perfect as you are:
oh, love, it’s gorgeous. Thank you for sharing with us. I’m glad you found some bliss yesterday. It looks like a walk I’d love to take sometime, perhaps someday we can
Beautiful pictures!
Lovely!
Wow, so beautiful! The greenery reminds me of my grandparents farm back in Wisconsin where I spent a lot of time growing up… I love the vibrant reds in the leaves!
Lovely pictures, Roxy, all of them…..but my favorite is the gate. That unassuming little gate surrounded by greenery, so mysterious. The gate that seperates here from there and keeps us on our own side. I keep pulling it back up to look at it and I can’t help wondering if there’s a gate like that for me somewhere….and what would I find if I stepped through it….